WEST END legend Andrew Lloyd Webber says political correctness is stopping him from creating another musical – and he insists it’s ridiculous that he wouldn’t be able to write his hit show Evita now.
The mantra that you can only write from a position of experience means that many subjects that interest him as a potential production are now off-limits.
2
2
Webber and his long-time collaborator created Evita about the life of Argentine political leader Eva Peron, and when it hit the West End in 1978 it became one of the biggest musical successes of all time.
Talking on the I Never Thought it Would Happen podcast, he said: “There’s another factor that has come in now which is all this business about.
“I’ll put it to you this way, if I were to be doing Evita today – Tim and I were doing Evita – I think there would be a lot of people to say well they’re not qualified to do this because they’re not Argentine. This is a factor that is staggering.
“There was a subject that I really wanted to consider doing, but everybody was saying to me, ‘You can’t do this because you’re not from that country.’
“You’re sort of thinking, hang on a moment, that means most of the shows that have been written, most of the operas that have been written wouldn’t be allowed today because they weren’t written by the nationality of the composer the subject is about.
Read Related Also: Peter Andre opens up about daughter Princess’ first boyfriend saying ‘I’m stressing about him’
“I promise you that you’re dealing with this sort of thing.”
Webber was dismayed when someone suggested to him that he create a musical on a “safe subject like Pride and Prejudice”, something that holds no creative interest for him.
He said: “Somebody said, ‘Why don’t you pick a safe subject like Pride and Prejudice?’
“I said, ‘Why would I want to make a musical out of Pride and Prejudice?’
“I don’t know whether one has to just sort of plough on regardless.
“I’m sure I will find something. I have masses of music bursting out at the moment but they’re like homeless waifs and strays.“
Lord Webber added: “I’m working with Michael Harrison now and the next show I do, if I do one, will be in partnership with him because he’s a very experienced but younger producer.
“I always say if, because the word if it is important.
“Right now I’m looking for a story and I’ve been looking for a story for the last 18 months and I can’t find a story that I think is right. It might just be that I could go out this afternoon and suddenly think, ‘Wow, there’s the story.’ Without the story I’m nowhere because I’m a musical dramatist at the end of the day and the story is the most important thing.”
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘752905198150451’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
